Railway track construction



Patented Jan. 17, 1939 UNITED sTATEs PAT ENT or Fics RAILWAY TRACK CONSTRUCTION .mlml A. McGrew, Albany, N. Y.

Application'April 8, 1936, Serial'No; 73,351.y 6 claims. (C1. ass- 349) example, are disclosed and claimed various typesA of devices for securing rails upon tie plates each of which includes a resilient clip one end of which bears upon an upper surface of the rail base and the other end of which bears uponthe tie plate, and a bolt for securing the clips firmly in position. In use, devices of this class have proven to be eminently successful in railroad track constructions for preventing loosening and creeping of the rails. By the use of resilient clips each portion of a rail which lies immediately above a tie plate is permitted to have a slight rolling o-r rocking'movement uponl the plate beneath when a locomotive or car passesalong the trackway, the rail seating surface of the tie plate being carnbered slightly longitudinally of thel rail to facilitate such movement. Increased economy is realized by reason of the fact that ranti-creeping devices are found to be no longer necessary, track maintenance is decreased in cost and rail life lengthened. 'I'he presentinvention has for its object the provision of av rail' l securing device generally similar to those-dis# closed in my prior patents but having a number of novelfeatures of construction which, when made use of, decrease the initial cost of installation and likewise result in the realization of other' advantages hereinafter to be more particularly pointed out.

One embodiment of the-invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing butit will be app'reciated that the formv of vthe invention sor illus- 40` tratediisv set forth by'way ofexample only and that various changes may be made in the design and arrangement of vits component 'elements' in adapting the invention for use with various types of rails, tie platesrand track constructions.

In 'the drawing:

Figure 1 is a top 'plan view of portion of a tie together with a-single tie plate and two ofA the' in this instance is shownto be a wooden tiel;4 It will be appreciated thatthe Vmaterial vofwhich the tie is made may be varied widely. The tie plate is indicated ati ll-and maybe' ofany standard construction although it ishighly'de-V sirable that the rectangular seating surface |2` for the rail be cambered slightly longitudinally of the rail; Lateral, longitudinally extending' rail confining ribs are indicate'dat Illandv lllY and apertures I5 are providedfor the reception of screw spikes for-the purpose ofy securing the tie plate to the tie. Thesel apertures may be made rectangular forthe reception of cut spikes if desired, or the tie' plate may be# otherwise secured in position.

Rectangular apertures passing completely through the tie plate H` are indicated at t5, these apertures beingr preferably, although not necessarily, located close to the lateralv margins of the rail seating surface yI 2;-and passingfthrough the ribs I3 and 14.1 Identical securing bolts'iare indicated at IS and identical clips are indicated at Il. Each' bolt is provided with a shankV of rectangular crossfsection, an enlarged head I8, and a threaded portion I9; the shank of the bolt having such width that theA oppositely facing edge surfaces are disposed, respectively, in'close proximity to the parallelA mutually 'facing si'd'e walls of the rectangular opening` I5' in? the tie plate through which the bolt passes. The head of each bolt engages the-undery surfaces of the tie plate, to the sides of the aperture l5; andthe nut ZEIy has threaded engagement withv the threaded end I9 of the bolt, the nut being provided'for the purpose of securing the resilient clip Il in rail clamping position.

Each clip comprises essentially ak continuous bar of resilient steel bent into/the forrn shownY in the drawing. In` cross-section the barv (see Figure Ll) has three flat sides and a curved side, the fla't sides intersecting to form two sharp corners. The bar is so fabricated by rst bending the same about an axis adjacent its midpoint and parallel to one of its flat sides, and thereafter about an axis disposed 4.normallyto, a'. plane passingr through the first mentioned axisv and the longitudinal axis of the clip, as to have two principal portions, i. e., the bridging portion 2| and the tie plate engaging portion 22, the adjacent ends of these portions joining in a smooth curve and the portions beingy disposed at an acute angle tot eachother. The bridging portion extends in a substantially horizontal direction when the clip isin operative position in a trackway, as indicated inn Figure 2,v and the Atie the drawing, the bridging portion 2| of eachV clip comprises two portions of the Voriginal bar which portions are spaced apart to permit the passage therebetween of the threaded portion I9 of the associated bolt. The tie plate engaging portion 22 of each clip likewise comprises two bar parts which converge downwardly and inwardly, the Vextreme free ends of these portions being disposed in close proximity,' or in actual contact with each other, as illustrated in Figure 3. Y

In applying a rail securing device. of the type just described it is first positioned, together with the securing bolt, substantially as shown in the drawing, it being apparent that in the insertion of the bolt its head I8 must rst be inserted through the aperture I5--while turned with its longer axis lengthwise of the aperture and thereafter being given a turnso that the ends of the head underlie the Yspaced portions of the undersurface of the tie plateto either side of the aperture.v By tightening the nut 20 the central'part of the bridging portion 2| is brought downwardly'and the rail engaging curved end of the clip caused to bear heavily upon the upper surface Aof the railbase. Simultaneously the tie plate engaging portion of the clip is forced into aperture I5 and the sharp inner corners 23 at the end of the clip are caused to engage the flat outer side of the ,shank of bolt I5.. As will be seen from a study of the drawing, the corner Y 23 is formed by the intersectionV o f the flat end tightened to eifect a further gripping or wedging action of the clip upon the-shank of the bolt.V

Likewise the two legs of the tie plate engaging portion 22 of theclip mayv beV sprung inwardly toward each other as the bolt is tightened, byV

reason of the camming action o-f the side walls of the aperture I5, with the Vresults that the clip is rrnly wedged into the position shown and the bolt itself is firmly secured by the clip.

For the purpose of providing adequate clearance for the heads of bolts lI6 the tie is recessed at'S, each recess3 registering with the tie plate aperture I5 immediately above the same. For the purpose of drainage the bottom of each recess opens into adrainage duct 3| which extends com'- pletely through they tie to its bottom surface, thus permitting the outflow of any water which may pass into Ythe recess 30 from abo-ve. Y

The rail securing means just described is quite rugged and thoroughly efficient in operation while at the same time presents certain advantages over prior types, particularly with respect to the clip construction. Clips of the Vtype described may be easily fabricated fro-m continuous bars and no waste material results from the clip forming operation, a section of the bar of the proper length being simply cut and thereafter bentto the form shown. Furthermore the clip weighs, when completed, very'substantially less than any clip of l a typeheretofore suggested,

in some cases weighing only approximately 1/3 as muchas Vclips Vof the type heretofore used, while having the same strength andY capacity. The cost of fabricating clips of the type disclosed is less than the cost of fabricating clips of the flat plate Vtype heretofore generally used and the clip described serves. to Vretain theV clip holding bolt in a definite position with increased effectiveness.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by LettersPatent is:

1. AV rail securing Vdevice including a resilient clip, said clip comprising a single continuous bar of substantially uniform cross section doubled upon itself at its midpoint so as to have a curved rail flange engaging portion, the remainder thereof forming resilient bridging portions and rail plate engaging portions disposed at an acute angle to each other, the parts of the bar forming the .bridging portion being spaced apart to receive therebetween a securing bolt, said bar having a rounded side and three flat sides which last mentioned sides intersect to form corners.

2. As an article of manufacture, a railVV clip comprising a bridging portion and a tie plate engaging portion, said clip being a single elongated member of resilient metal curved at its midpoint to provide spaced bridging elements and curved adjacent each' free. end to provide substantially straight, converging, tie plate engaging elements. t g

' 3. As an article of 'manufactura a raill clip Vcomprising a bridging portion and a tie plate engaging portion, said clip being a single elongated member Vof resilient metal curved at its midpoint to provide spaced bridging elements and curved adjacent each free end to provide substantially straight, converging, tie plate engaging elements the free ends of said member being substantially in contact, Y Y

4.V In a railroad track construction, atie plate having a rail seating surface and a bolt receiving aperture therein at one side of said seating surface, a rail mounted on said `seating surface, a clip comprising a bridging portion and a tie plate engaging portion, said portions being angularly disposed, the bridging portion being sub` stantially normal'to the rail and comprising two bridging elements spaced apart for Vthe passage of a bolt and the tie plate engaging portion comprising downwardly and inwardly converging elements which project into said aperture, and a bolt having a portion within said aperture-and securing said clip, the side of the bolt being engaged by the end of said tie plate engaging portion, for the purpose specified.

5. In a railroad track construction, a tie plate having a rail seating surface and a bolt receivingaperture therein at one side of said seating surface, `a rail mounted on said seating surface, a clip comprising a bridging portion and a tie plate engaging portionsaid portions being angularly disposed, the bridging portion being substantially normal to the rail and Vcomprising two outwardly bowed bridging -elements between which the bolt may pass and the tie plate engaging portion comprising ,downwardly and inwardly converging element which project into said aperture and thelower ends of which 'are in contact with each other, andV aV bolt having a portionV within said aperture and securing said clip, the side of the bolt being engaged by the end of said tie plate engagingv portion, for the purpose specified. y

and the tie plate engaging portion of the clip comprising downwardly and inwardly converging elements, the bridging portion resiliently maintaining said inwardly converging elements in predetermined relationship but permitting them 5 to move toward each other when the bolt is tightened.

JOHN A. MCGREW. 

